Young mum-of-five cooks for 100 homeless people

A young mum of five spends every Friday cooking – not just for her family, but to feed 100 homeless people on Dublin’s streets.

Fri, 20 Feb, 2015 - 00:00

Louise Walsh

While her children are tucked up in bed, Lynn Cahill, 29, spends up to six hours walking the streets to dole out hot meals and warm clothes alongside other members of her newly formed group Cairdeas.

Cairdeas have helped hundreds with clothes, food and accommodation – mainly through their own donations since they started last November.

However in recent times, Cairdeas have begun weekly collections at various areas for clothing and local businesses have come on board to help with catering.

“My friend Nicola Moore runs a similar group called VISIT in Tallaght and I went out to help her last year. I was walking the streets handing out sandwiches and I saw the conditions people were living in. I just couldn’t sleep that night thinking of people huddled in the cold while I was tucked up in my nice warm bed,” Lynn said.

Lynn formed Kildare-based Cairdeas and now has five other members who help her each week, including chef Dulce de Prado who uses her talents to cook hot meals.

Each Friday, Lynn spends the day cooking for the night ahead, as well as tending to her five children, who range in age from just three months to 14 years old.

“We started helping people with accommodation out of our own pocket but now we’re getting generous donations of clothes, ground mats and sleeping bags. One Kilcock butcher John Ryan is also kindly donating meat for the meals.

“We were inspired to cook hot meals after a man told us he could no longer stomach sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and tea.”

We all now spend most of Friday making dishes like meat-balls, shepherds pie, chicken curry, stew and Sunday dinner with apple pie and cream for dessert.

Lynn, Keith Freer, Rachel Byrne, William Nolan, Anne O’Reilly and Dulce de Prado then drive to Dublin that evening.

“We hit the streets about 8pm and walk until about 2am with stoves to keep the food warm. We bring a notebook with us for requests. If anyone needs size eight runners, then we’ll do our best to source them. We also make sure to bring dog food for anyone with pets.”

Lynn says while many homeless are “nervous” of being on the streets, “people just want to be respected and treated with compassion and understanding”.